1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
3 Context and Background
3.1 Context: Extreme Events, Climate Change, Austerity Environment
3.2 The Scottish Policy Environment
3.3 The Aberdeen Context
Aberdeen City | Priority localities | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Torry | Middlefield, Mastrick, Cummings Park, Northfield and Heathryfold | Seaton, Woodside and Tillydrone | ||
Population | 228,800 | 10,500 | 2500 | 14,000 |
Estimated percentage children (under 16) living in poverty | 16.7% | 23% | 46% (East side of Middlefield) | 25% |
Males: Life expectancy, years | 77.1 | 71.2 | 74.6 | Seaton: 72.4 Woodside: 68.2 Tillydroyne: 73.7 |
Females: Life expectancy, years | 81.2 | 77.26 | Heathryfold: 79.48 Mastrick: 82.88 | Seaton: 77.1 Woodside: 74.9 Tillyrone: 78.8 |
Median household income | £30,735 | £20,031 | Middlefield: £17,442 Heathryfold: £24,375 | Seaton: £18,155 Woodside: £22,060 Tillyrone: £18,480 |
Potentially Vulnerable Areaa (PVA); Source of flooding and highest level of riskb (SEPA 2018) | Total of 5 PVA in Aberdeen City River: High Surface water: High Coastal: High | Aberdeen City-Deeside PVA 06/18 (SEPA 2016) River: High Surface water: High Coastal: High | Aberdeen City-Bridge of Don and Deeside PVA (SEPA 2016) Surface water: High | Aberdeen City-Bridge of Don PVA 06/18 (SEPA 2016) River: High Surface water: High Coastal: High |
Social challenges | Key issues that occur in higher concentrations in these localities compared to Aberdeen as a whole (Community Planning Aberdeen 2019) Drug misuse Low school attendance Unemployment Lack of community integration and social cohesion Low levels of educational attainment Anti-social behavior and crime Domestic abuse Social isolation Poor transport infrastructure Food poverty Chronic illness |
Organization | Area or Department within Organization | Attended | Vertical Scale | Resilience Reservoir | Dimension Resilience |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership | Heath and Social Care | Yes | Regional, Local | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure |
Active Aberdeen Partnership | Sports and Active Lifestyles | Yes | Local, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Environment |
National Health Service Grampian: Category 2 Respondera | Health Intelligence | Yes | Regional, National | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure |
Aberdeen City Council: Category 1 Responderb | Community Justice | Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Economic, Infrastructure, Environment | |
Transformation | Yes | Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Economic, Environment, Infrastructure | |
Community Planning | Local | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Economic, Infrastructure, Environment | ||
Locality—Communities and Partnerships | Yes | Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social | |
Performance Management | Local | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social | ||
IT and Transformation | Local | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure, Economic | ||
Communities and Housing | Yes | Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Infrastructure, Social | |
Localities | Yes | Local, Household | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Social, Infrastructure, Environment | |
Community Safety Service | Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Social, Infrastructure, Environment | ||
Priority Families | Yes | Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Economic | |
Digital Economy | Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Economic, Infrastructure | ||
Development | Local, Household | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure, Environment, Economic | ||
Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations: Third Sector Interface (ACVO TSI) | Partnerships, ACVO TSI | Yes | Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Social, Environment |
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: Category 1 Responder | Yes | National, Regional, Local, Household | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Environment, Infrastructure | |
Aberdeen City Alcohol and Drugs Partnership | Development | Yes | Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social |
Police Scotland: Category 1 Responder | Communities | Yes | National, Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities, Identified Hazard Mitigation Activities | Social, Infrastructure, Environment, |
Skills Development Scotland—Virtual membership | National, Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure, Economic, Environment | ||
Scottish Enterprise—Virtual membership | National, Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure, Economic, Environment | ||
North East College—Virtual membership | Regional, Local, Household, Individual | Actions, Learning, Resources, and Capacities | Social, Infrastructure, Economic, Environment |
4 Method
Ten essentials for effective community resilience initiatives | Examples of factors that affect the potential to fulfill the essentials | Aberdeen resilient, included and supported group, issues raised during the workshop | Further actions identified |
---|---|---|---|
Enhance adaptability and flexibility for managing change and work with diverse resources and capacities | Range and area of expertise of organizations and individuals who are members of the LRPG Culture and working practices of member organizations Resources and capacities available to group members Ability of LRPG to take decisions and access resources | Group includes wide range of sectors Has access to diverse resources and capabilities Group members felt they did not have permission to act and this impacted on their ability to make decisions and respond flexibly to circumstances | Need to change current systems and working practices within individual organizations and between group members |
Take account of shocks and stresses, direct and indirect impacts, and anticipated and unanticipated change by enhancing specified and generalized resilience | The purpose and aims of the LRPG Objective or responsibility of organizations and individuals within the LRPG Awareness of local issues and situation Ability to collect information and respond to changing situations Awareness of potential risks to a community’s resilience | Current focus on chronic stresses, social and economic problems Strength is the focus on social justice issues and health outcomes, which enhance generalized resilience Direct link has not yet been made with climate change and natural hazards | Bring in partners who work on Aberdeen Community Resilience Plan |
Work horizontally across sectors to avoid counterintuitive outcomes and to find novel solutions that simultaneously address multiple concerns | Range of sectors involved with LRPG Effectiveness and availability of channels of communication between group members and communities Ability to respond to and learn from change collectively Ability to work and think holistically Willingness to engage, work, and codesign with communities Access to and use of risk assessment and analysis tools | Multisector composition is a strength To improve information sharing agreements within the Aberdeen LRPG An awareness exists of the need to pool resources and change ways of working to meet this essential | Need more direct contact to enable stronger communication between organizations |
Work vertically across social scales to ensure engagement in carbon reduction and to address issues of power, control, and ensure support | Group members’ ability to communicate with and access higher levels of power Community attitude to individual group members Level of trust between group members and individuals within an area Willingness to lobby government and international organizations | Some member organizations are hierarchical in structure and there is the potential to access higher levels Some group members have direct contact with individuals within the areas of concern Aberdeen LPRG has the potential to engage vertically across scales | Make the case for different ways of working to those higher up in member organizations Make better use of members’ existing contacts and organizational structures |
Reduce carbon emissions through transformative and proactive change | Responsibility and objective of LRPG Access to resources Capacity to engage and empower communities to reduce carbon emissions | This issue is currently not being addressed | Identify local projects addressing this, investigate scope to work with them |
Build narratives of climate change to enhance climate literacy and inspire hope and action | Access to resources information Level of trust within the local community Ability to engage with individuals and groups | Climate change narratives are not being articulated, but there is a strong desire to create a narrative of hope and possibility within the communities for their own personal abilities to achieve | Seek out examples of this to learn from |
Engage directly with futures to release creativity, imagination, and change | Willingness, resources, and capacity of individual LRPG to actively engage creatively with local communities | Potential strategies were identified during the workshop to create a “trajectory to a better life” | Investigate community mentoring schemes |
Focus on climate disadvantage and reducing inequities to overcome injustices of climate change and climate action | Objective and responsibility of LRPG | Focus of this group is in deprived areas of Aberdeen dealing with underlying social and economic issues Strength of this group is its core purpose of creating “resilient individuals” rather than resilience to specific external shocks | Use trusted member of the Aberdeen LRPG to help other group members build relationships in the areas to build resilience |
Focus on processes and pathways through encouraging participation, learning, and empowering forms of change | Local community capacity and willingness to engage with LRPG | Group recognizes the need to focus on the process and address issues of the prescriptive target | Examine current working practices |
Focus on transformative change, rather than adjustment or reform kinds of change | Willingness of our community to transform Ability of the LRPG to access power to bring about transformation | Transformation of processes of current practices is recognized within the group, however power and control issues may prevent this | Need to seek permission to take actions from higher up within individual organizations |